


Waiting

by I_Am_Shameless



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Non-Canon Relationship, very minor angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-25
Updated: 2015-09-25
Packaged: 2018-04-23 07:41:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4868741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_Am_Shameless/pseuds/I_Am_Shameless
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It took two years, but they finally found one another.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Waiting

**Author's Note:**

> Somehow, Matt and Ashley turned out to be one of my OTP'S, so this happened.
> 
> For those who have read my other Until Dawn fic, that will be updated soon! I'm working on the second chapter, but I have to update one of my other stories first. I should have the second chapter up by Sunday or Monday.
> 
> Enjoy!

Matt breaks up with Emily a week after they get off the mountain.

It was messy. Emily was still plenty shaken up about what had happened, and Matt ending their relationship only caused her to snap even more. Cruel words were spoken on both ends, words that Matt sometimes wishes he could take back, and at the end of it Emily slaps him and storms off crying, muttering about how much of a bastard he is.

It felt horrible and sickening, but the relief of finally being free of her overpowered every other feeling. He’ll always love Emily, but unfortunately it took almost dying for him to see that he just doesn’t love her the way he thought he did. At least, not anymore.

Matt tries a couple of times to call her and apologize for the things he said to her, but she ignores all his calls. Eventually he stops trying.

They don’t talk again for two years.

 

* * *

 

 

Things don’t work out between Ashley and Chris. They don’t even bother to give their relationship a try once they’re finally back home. They’re both traumatized and have too many scars. If there was ever a good time for them to get together, it wasn’t now.

“I _do_ love you, Ash,” he tells her once they’re finished discussing it.

She gives him a sad smile, tears welling up in her eyes. “I know, Chris. And I love you too.”

They hug and go their separate ways.

Chris texts and calls her every now and then, but it’s not nearly as much as she would like. They’re still good friends, probably always will be, but they don’t talk very often. Ashley wonders if it’s because talking to her brings up too many painful memories. Or maybe a part of him blames her for some of the things that happened with Josh. She feels like she came between their friendship, in a way. Maybe Chris feels the same way.

She never bothers to ask when she does talk to him, and he never says anything about it. That’s fine. She doesn’t want to know the answer.

 

 

* * *

 

Matt doesn’t keep in touch with the others. The only person he was close to was Emily.

No, that’s not entirely true. He was somewhat close to Ashley. They weren’t the best of friends, but he liked her a hell of a lot better than the others. Then again, he never really talked to Sam, Chris and Josh all that much. They became strangers to him after the group fell apart when Hannah and Beth disappeared.

He knows that maybe he should make some kind of attempt to check up on Sam (or call her back, rather. She’s called him a few times and he hasn’t answered his phone yet), Chris and Ashley. Hell, maybe he should even call Mike and Jess. But something always stops him from doing so. He doesn’t want to be reminded of what happened, and he definitely doesn’t want to talk about it. And it just wouldn’t feel right talking about anything…normal. Like it would all be one big lie.

 

 

* * *

 

Ashley calls Emily once, and surprisingly the girl answers. Unsurprisingly, all Emily does is give Ashley a quick chewing out before hanging up the phone. Ashley can’t be angry or blame Emily for doing so. She feels horrible for what happened in the safe room that night. How could she expect Emily to forgive her for that?

She talks to Sam about as much as she talks to Chris. And just like her conversations with Chris, she and Sam talk about everything except for what happened that night. It’s like an unspoken rule. No one talks about it, because no one wants to think about it.

When they talk, Sam always seems so…off. Ashley always carefully asks Sam how she’s handling everything, without mentioning that night, and Sam always just says, “I’m fine.” But there’s something in her tone that implies otherwise.

“I’m fine,” is the same thing Josh would always say after Hannah and Beth went missing.

Ashley can only hope that Sam doesn’t go down the same path that Josh had.

She doesn’t talk to Matt. Sam said that he never answers the phone when she calls him, so why should Ashley even try for herself? Besides, she understands. Matt just wants to be left alone and forget everything that happened.

As for Mike and Jessica, she only talks to them about once every couple of months or so. She was never close to Jess, can’t even really stand her, in all honesty, and talking to Mike is just…awkward. They both have no idea what to say, so their conversations only last about five minutes. Ashley is more than fine with that.

 

* * *

 

 

Two years after what happened on the mountain, Emily is dating a guy who is even more of a tool than Mike used to be and is just as self-absorbed as she is. Chris is has a girlfriend who he’s thinking about proposing to, Sam is studying to be a veterinarian, and Jessica and Mike are expecting a baby.

For odd, unknown reasons, Jessica chooses to invite everyone to her baby shower. And for odd, unknown reasons, they all agree to go.

It’s weird seeing each other again in person, and more awkward than it should be, but they manage to push that all aside. Plus, there are plenty of other people from high school and college to talk to. It seems that Jessica invited every person that she could think of.

All of them sit at a table together and watch Mike and Jessica, who are sitting in front of the room, open baby presents.

Emily makes snide comments the entire time and claims that Jessica only invited them to get gifts out of them. Eventually Sam tells her, very politely, to shut her mouth.

Chris is still the same goofy guy he always was, just more mature. It’s nice seeing him happy and with someone who he loves more than anything. A part of Ashley wishes that she could be the girl he’s sneaking kisses to and has his arm around, but she knows that she can’t be and she’s just glad that he’s found the right girl for him.

Matt stays mostly silent the whole time, only talking when he’s being spoken to. He _does_ give Ashley a genuine smile when he sees her, and she has to resist the urge to give him a big hug. It’s been so long since she’s seen him, and a small part of her had missed him.

Little did she know that a small part of him had missed her, too.

 

* * *

 

 

Matt gives it about an hour before he excuses himself. He needs some fresh air—and to get away from everyone.

“I’ll come with you,” Ashley says, standing up from her seat.

If it were anyone else, he probably would have shot them down. But since it’s Ashley, he just nods. He honestly doesn’t mind her tagging along.

They’re both quiet as they make their way out of the building. Matt sighs and leans up against the wall, hands shoved in his pockets and eyes looking up at the night sky. Ashley isn’t sure if she should say something or not, so instead she takes out a cigarette and lights it.

Matt glances at her when he hears the flick of the lighter. “Since when do you smoke?” He asks, surprised.

Ashley shrugs. “I don’t, really. It’s not really my thing. But sometimes I just need one to help me relax, you know?”

“I’m not so sure you’ll be relaxed when you have cancer.”

“Thanks, Matt.” She rolls her eyes, but she can’t help but smile when he lets out a small short laugh. It’s nice to see him laugh. She hasn’t seen or talked to him in two years, but she can tell that he’s had it more roughly than the others.

“So…what have you been up to, Ash?” He asks her.

“Not much,” she answers with a shrug. “I have a shitty job at a coffee shop and I’m just trying to get through finishing college.”

“I overheard Sam and Chris talking earlier. You want to be a therapist?”

“Well, yeah. I want to…I want to help people, or at least try, which is probably stupid since I barely know how to help myself…” Ashley lets her words trail off and shakes her head. “I’m sorry. Ignore that last part. We don’t need to get into all of that.”

The look he gives her is sympathetic and understanding. “Hey, I get it,” he says quietly. “I don’t know how I’ve managed to get through these past two years. It’s hard, you know? Going back to school, getting a job…I didn’t want to do any of it. Hell, I had a hard time just getting out of bed for the first six months.”

Ashley nods. “Yeah, that was how I was, too. I still get like that sometimes.”

“Yeah.” He sighs. “So…I thought you wanted to be a writer?”

It catches her by surprise, so much that she drops the cigarette.

“Damn it,” she sighs, stepping on it to put it out.

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine…You remembered that I wanted to be a writer?” She remembers it coming up in a conversation they had once, but only once. And that was before the whole Hannah and Beth fiasco.

Matt gives her a tiny grin. “I remember you talking my ear off about all of your favorite books, too.”

She blushes, feeling like a huge dork as the memory plays in her mind. “I was very passionate about books.”

“And you’re not now?” He raises an eyebrow.

“Not as much as I used to be. I just…couldn’t see myself being a writer anymore.”

“You would have had great material to work with, with what happened on the mountain and all.”

“Yeah, right. Everyone would hate me. Besides, it would bring up a lot of bad memories. I don’t know, Matt. I guess Josh is mainly the reason why I want to become a therapist. I want to help people like him. Hopefully I can get to a place in my life where I can do that.” She was about to change the subject, because memories she didn’t want to have were starting to float back to her, but a cold gust of wind stops her. She shivers and wraps her arms around herself.

Matt chuckles and shrugs out of his jacket. “Here, Ash,” he says, moving closer to her so he could wrap it around her.

Ashley grips the jacket. “Thanks, Matt. But now _you’re_ probably freezing.”

He shrugs. “I’m fine, Ash. Don’t worry about me.”

“Sorry, but worrying about people is kind of in my nature.” She shakes her head and nods to the door. “You ready to head back inside?”

“Not even remotely,” he snorts, “but I guess I can’t hide out here forever.”

“No, unfortunately you can’t,” she agrees. “But if you ever need another break from them, just let me know. I mean, unless you need a break from me, too.”

Matt smiles again, and Ashley’s heart squeezes happily. She could tell that the only smiles Matt ever gave since that night on the mountain were all forced ones, so seeing him with a smile on his face that’s actually real…Well, this is probably the best part of her night.

“I think you’re the only person who I don’t need break from,” he says, and his voice is sincere. “You’re better than the rest of those idiots in there.”

“Aw, even better than Emily?” She teases.

He rolls his eyes. “ _Way_ better than Emily. If I have to listen to her complain one more time about Jess, I’m going to break a glass over my head.”

Ashley laughs. “Come on, let’s go.”

Matt turns to go back into the building, and Ashley is about to follow him, but for whatever reason, she instead reaches out and grabs his arm, stopping him in his tracks.

He gives her a questioning look. “What’s wrong?”

Her mind scrambles for an excuse of some kind, but she couldn’t think of one. In all honesty, _she_ didn’t even know why she had grabbed him.

“I…”

“Ash?”

_Do something, you idiot!_ Her mind screams at her.

Without thinking, she puts her hands on his shoulders and presses her lips to his.

Much to her surprise, Matt doesn’t pull back or yell at her or even just stand there doing nothing. It takes a few seconds, but he closes his eyes and wraps one arm around her, pulling her close to him. His lips move against hers, gently but firmly.

It’s weird how one kiss from an old friend could end up being the best thing to happen to either of them in a long time.

“Matt,” she breaths when she finally breaks the kiss, “Matt, I...I’m sorry?” It comes out as a question because even though he had kissed her back, it was her who had initiated the kiss and it could have been crossing the line.

He runs a thumb across her bottom lip. “You don’t have to be sorry, Ash.” He lets out a soft laugh and shakes his head. “I don’t know where that came from, but I’m definitely not complaining.”

“Um…” She felt like such an idiot, not knowing what to say. She wasn’t a dumb teenage girl anymore. She shouldn’t be acting like one.

He doesn’t seem to mind, though. In fact, he finds it to be kind of cute. “Look, we don’t have to talk about this now.” He gives her waist a teasing squeeze. “Just say that you’ll have dinner with me tomorrow night.”

“Tomorrow night…” Shit, did she have anything to do tomorrow night? She checks her mental schedule. Nothing. “Tomorrow night sounds perfect.”

“Cool. Uh, is seven okay?”

“Seven is fine,” she smiles, finally relaxing.

“Great.” He leans down and presses one more gentle kiss to her lips that doesn’t last as long as both of them want it to, because just then a familiar voice causes them to break apart.

“Hey, you guys coming back in-? Oh.” Chris blinks in surprise when he sees them. “Uh…sorry. I’ll just…I’ll let the others know you’re gonna be a few minutes longer.”

“Thanks, Chris,” Ashley says, turning red.

He winks. “No problem. Have fun, lovebirds, but not too much fun. Night’s not over yet.” And with that, he goes back inside.

Ashley and Matt are quiet for a moment. Then they look at one another and burst out laughing.

“Well, that was…awkward,” he says.

She giggles. “Could have been worse.”

“Like how?”

“It could have been Emily who caught us.”

Matt groans. “I can only imagine how that would go down.”

Ashley lets out a snort and kisses his cheek. “Let’s go back inside and _at least_ attempt to enjoy the last few hours or so.”

“With you there, I think I can handle it.”

They smile at one another. They’ll talk about the kiss and all the other complicated shit that comes with it, tomorrow. There was something between them—that much was obvious. They had both felt it. Whether it’s enough for them to start a relationship…They would wait and see.

But when Ashley looks at Matt, and he looks at her, they can definitely see each other being together.

 

 


End file.
